Kei Nishikori eases into Geneva Open quarterfinals

Posted May 23, 2017 7:00 am

The Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) - Second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan eased into the Geneva Open quarterfinals, beating Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday.

Ranked No. 9, Nishikori took a wild card entry after a wrist injury affected his clay-court season and did not drop serve against the 88th-ranked Kukushkin.

Nishikori clinched the second-round match with a well-placed forehand winner from the baseline.

He next plays South African Kevin Anderson, who outlasted 20-year-old American Jared Donaldson 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-2.

Also Tuesday, fifth-seeded Steve Johnson of the United States advanced to the second round, winning 6-3, 6-3 against the 37-year-old Frenchman Stephane Robert.

Johnson next plays Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, who rallied from a second-set dip to beat Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-4, 0-6, 7-5.

Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, another wild card, beat ninth-seeded American Ryan Harrison 6-4, 7-6 (5) in a first-round match.

With a second-round match Wednesday against top-seeded Stan Wawrinka as the prize, Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil beat Portugal's Joao Sousa 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Wawrinka is the defending champion at his home tournament, a final warm-up for the French Open which he won in 2015.

Switzerland's tennis player Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka, right, and Japan tennis player Kei Nishikori, left, pose near the Geneva's water jet before the Geneva Open ATP 250 Tennis tournament, in Geneva, Switzerland, Monday, May 22, 2017. (Thomas Delley/Keystone via AP) The Associated Press

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